BMW #1 in sales
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Steering BMW to the front of the pack
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
BY JOAN VERDON
NorthJersey.com
STAFF WRITER
Jim O'Donnell's first car was a BMW Mini. His current vehicle is a BMW 750. Over the past year, O'Donnell ? president of BMW of North America LLC and chairman and CEO of BMW Holding Corp. ? has driven the BMW and Mini brands to a larger share of the U.S. market. BMW is ahead of longtime luxury front-runner Lexus in sales through the first five months of 2009.
O'Donnell, 59, heads sales, marketing and distribution activities for the BMW and Mini brands in the United States, Canada and Mexico. BMW of North America operates out of an 80-acre corporate campus in Woodcliff Lake, with 1,000 employees. There are more than 300 BMW dealerships in the U.S., and 83 Mini dealerships. The company this week said it plans to add 17 Mini dealerships over the next 18 months.
O'Donnell, who lives in Upper Saddle River, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and previously headed BMW operations in the United Kingdom, where he doubled sales of BMWs during his tenure. (Interview condensed for space.)
Q. You took a job with Ford at age 30. What was your first job with Ford?
Pricing. I was a pricing analyst for Ford in Europe. After working for about four or five years in the finance area for Ford, I discovered that all my colleagues who worked in sales and marketing had a much better time. They were going on wonderful trips around the world. So I went into the sales and marketing side, using my financial background.
Q. When you were with Ford, were you based in this country?
I spent a lot of time in Dearborn [Mich., Ford headquarters]. In my last job with Ford, I was responsible for the importing of American vehicles into Europe. They were under pressure from the government of America about the balance of payments problem. The White House was trying to encourage the Fords, the GMs, the Chryslers of this world to export more.
Q. That sounds like mission impossible, selling American cars to Europeans.
There is a niche over there who really like American cars, primarily in Scandinavia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and to some extent there was a small market for it in Germany as well. You had a lot of American forces in Germany at that time [the 1980s].
Q. This year BMW has been outselling Lexus?
The premium segment was always Cadillac, Mercedes, and then Lexus took over from Mercedes. For the last 10 years, we've been No. 2 [to Lexus]. For the first five months of this year, we are No. 1 in that segment.
Q. What do you attribute that to?
It's the breadth of our products. There's a car to fit every taste, almost. And last year a lot of companies walked away from the financing of the vehicles, and leasing, but we still offer our customers those options.
Q. In May you described the current economic climate as a "dust bowl" instead of the "spring garden" dealers were waiting for.
It still is a little bit of a dust bowl. I don't see too many green shoots on the horizon. Although I would predict that come September we'll start to see some recovery in the new-car market. I certainly hope so, because it really fell off a cliff last September. Up until that time our biggest concern was the [weak] value of the dollar in Europe relative to the euro.
Q. Did sales fall off the cliff more for the luxury market?
No. There's no evidence of that.
Q. So, typical BMW buyers weren't trading down; they were just delaying purchases?
The luxury market was affected slightly less than the general market, but everyone was affected ? and worried. Every newspaper you picked up, every TV channel you turned on, had bad news. I recommended to our dealers that they don't have CNN on in their dealerships, because it was depressing. It doesn't create a good sales environment.
Q. What should they put on instead?
Oh, put on the Golf Channel or something. Here's something the Mini people did: [Shows a button that says "I refuse to participate in moaning about the economy."] Because part of it is psychological.
Q. If you're a dealer in this economy, what should you do?
What our [BMW] dealers have done very well with is our certified pre-owned program. Those volumes last year were up about 16 percent on the previous year and we ended up with about 104,000 going through the dealerships. This year we'll probably do about 120,000 of those cars. If you go back five years we would have done 50,000. To a certain extent, the drop in new-car sales has been compensated by a rise in certified pre-owned cars.
Q. You have a diesel BMW on display in the lobby. What are you doing with diesel?
We are slowly but surely introducing it into the U.S. market.
We've started off with two models, the 335 diesel and the X5 diesel. It's a slow process to convince the very cynical American public that diesel is green. I think poor old diesel is a victim of the past, where they tended to be dirty, smelly engines. But that's no longer the case. In terms of CO2 they're much better than the equivalent gas engine. And the performance is remarkable, particularly if you're interested in acceleration. The performance is equivalent to most sports cars. And [they're] delivering much better fuel economy. You only have to fill up every 560 miles or thereabout, so it's great in terms of having to go to the gas station.
Exec Access appears on Wednesdays. E-mail:verdon@northjersey.com
Page 1 2 >>
Jim O'Donnell's first car was a BMW Mini. His current vehicle is a BMW 750. Over the past year, O'Donnell ? president of BMW of North America LLC and chairman and CEO of BMW Holding Corp. ? has driven the BMW and Mini brands to a larger share of the U.S. market. BMW is ahead of longtime luxury front-runner Lexus in sales through the first five months of 2009.
AMY NEWMAN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Buy this photo"Come September, we'll start to see some recovery in the new-car market," says Jim O'Donnell. BMW said it plans to add 18 Mini dealerships in the next 18 months. O'Donnell, 59, heads sales, marketing and distribution activities for the BMW and Mini brands in the United States, Canada and Mexico. BMW of North America operates out of an 80-acre corporate campus in Woodcliff Lake, with 1,000 employees. There are more than 300 BMW dealerships in the U.S., and 83 Mini dealerships. The company this week said it plans to add 17 Mini dealerships over the next 18 months.
O'Donnell, who lives in Upper Saddle River, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and previously headed BMW operations in the United Kingdom, where he doubled sales of BMWs during his tenure. (Interview condensed for space.)
Q. You took a job with Ford at age 30. What was your first job with Ford?
Pricing. I was a pricing analyst for Ford in Europe. After working for about four or five years in the finance area for Ford, I discovered that all my colleagues who worked in sales and marketing had a much better time. They were going on wonderful trips around the world. So I went into the sales and marketing side, using my financial background.
Q. When you were with Ford, were you based in this country?
I spent a lot of time in Dearborn [Mich., Ford headquarters]. In my last job with Ford, I was responsible for the importing of American vehicles into Europe. They were under pressure from the government of America about the balance of payments problem. The White House was trying to encourage the Fords, the GMs, the Chryslers of this world to export more.
Q. That sounds like mission impossible, selling American cars to Europeans.
There is a niche over there who really like American cars, primarily in Scandinavia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and to some extent there was a small market for it in Germany as well. You had a lot of American forces in Germany at that time [the 1980s].
Q. This year BMW has been outselling Lexus?
The premium segment was always Cadillac, Mercedes, and then Lexus took over from Mercedes. For the last 10 years, we've been No. 2 [to Lexus]. For the first five months of this year, we are No. 1 in that segment.
Q. What do you attribute that to?
It's the breadth of our products. There's a car to fit every taste, almost. And last year a lot of companies walked away from the financing of the vehicles, and leasing, but we still offer our customers those options.
Q. In May you described the current economic climate as a "dust bowl" instead of the "spring garden" dealers were waiting for.
It still is a little bit of a dust bowl. I don't see too many green shoots on the horizon. Although I would predict that come September we'll start to see some recovery in the new-car market. I certainly hope so, because it really fell off a cliff last September. Up until that time our biggest concern was the [weak] value of the dollar in Europe relative to the euro.
Q. Did sales fall off the cliff more for the luxury market?
No. There's no evidence of that.
Q. So, typical BMW buyers weren't trading down; they were just delaying purchases?
The luxury market was affected slightly less than the general market, but everyone was affected ? and worried. Every newspaper you picked up, every TV channel you turned on, had bad news. I recommended to our dealers that they don't have CNN on in their dealerships, because it was depressing. It doesn't create a good sales environment.
Q. What should they put on instead?
Oh, put on the Golf Channel or something. Here's something the Mini people did: [Shows a button that says "I refuse to participate in moaning about the economy."] Because part of it is psychological.
Q. If you're a dealer in this economy, what should you do?
What our [BMW] dealers have done very well with is our certified pre-owned program. Those volumes last year were up about 16 percent on the previous year and we ended up with about 104,000 going through the dealerships. This year we'll probably do about 120,000 of those cars. If you go back five years we would have done 50,000. To a certain extent, the drop in new-car sales has been compensated by a rise in certified pre-owned cars.
Q. You have a diesel BMW on display in the lobby. What are you doing with diesel?
We are slowly but surely introducing it into the U.S. market.
We've started off with two models, the 335 diesel and the X5 diesel. It's a slow process to convince the very cynical American public that diesel is green. I think poor old diesel is a victim of the past, where they tended to be dirty, smelly engines. But that's no longer the case. In terms of CO2 they're much better than the equivalent gas engine. And the performance is remarkable, particularly if you're interested in acceleration. The performance is equivalent to most sports cars. And [they're] delivering much better fuel economy. You only have to fill up every 560 miles or thereabout, so it's great in terms of having to go to the gas station.
Steering BMW to the front of the pack
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
BY JOAN VERDON
NorthJersey.com
STAFF WRITER
Jim O'Donnell's first car was a BMW Mini. His current vehicle is a BMW 750. Over the past year, O'Donnell ? president of BMW of North America LLC and chairman and CEO of BMW Holding Corp. ? has driven the BMW and Mini brands to a larger share of the U.S. market. BMW is ahead of longtime luxury front-runner Lexus in sales through the first five months of 2009.
O'Donnell, 59, heads sales, marketing and distribution activities for the BMW and Mini brands in the United States, Canada and Mexico. BMW of North America operates out of an 80-acre corporate campus in Woodcliff Lake, with 1,000 employees. There are more than 300 BMW dealerships in the U.S., and 83 Mini dealerships. The company this week said it plans to add 17 Mini dealerships over the next 18 months.
O'Donnell, who lives in Upper Saddle River, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and previously headed BMW operations in the United Kingdom, where he doubled sales of BMWs during his tenure. (Interview condensed for space.)
Q. You took a job with Ford at age 30. What was your first job with Ford?
Pricing. I was a pricing analyst for Ford in Europe. After working for about four or five years in the finance area for Ford, I discovered that all my colleagues who worked in sales and marketing had a much better time. They were going on wonderful trips around the world. So I went into the sales and marketing side, using my financial background.
Q. When you were with Ford, were you based in this country?
I spent a lot of time in Dearborn [Mich., Ford headquarters]. In my last job with Ford, I was responsible for the importing of American vehicles into Europe. They were under pressure from the government of America about the balance of payments problem. The White House was trying to encourage the Fords, the GMs, the Chryslers of this world to export more.
Q. That sounds like mission impossible, selling American cars to Europeans.
There is a niche over there who really like American cars, primarily in Scandinavia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and to some extent there was a small market for it in Germany as well. You had a lot of American forces in Germany at that time [the 1980s].
Q. This year BMW has been outselling Lexus?
The premium segment was always Cadillac, Mercedes, and then Lexus took over from Mercedes. For the last 10 years, we've been No. 2 [to Lexus]. For the first five months of this year, we are No. 1 in that segment.
Q. What do you attribute that to?
It's the breadth of our products. There's a car to fit every taste, almost. And last year a lot of companies walked away from the financing of the vehicles, and leasing, but we still offer our customers those options.
Q. In May you described the current economic climate as a "dust bowl" instead of the "spring garden" dealers were waiting for.
It still is a little bit of a dust bowl. I don't see too many green shoots on the horizon. Although I would predict that come September we'll start to see some recovery in the new-car market. I certainly hope so, because it really fell off a cliff last September. Up until that time our biggest concern was the [weak] value of the dollar in Europe relative to the euro.
Q. Did sales fall off the cliff more for the luxury market?
No. There's no evidence of that.
Q. So, typical BMW buyers weren't trading down; they were just delaying purchases?
The luxury market was affected slightly less than the general market, but everyone was affected ? and worried. Every newspaper you picked up, every TV channel you turned on, had bad news. I recommended to our dealers that they don't have CNN on in their dealerships, because it was depressing. It doesn't create a good sales environment.
Q. What should they put on instead?
Oh, put on the Golf Channel or something. Here's something the Mini people did: [Shows a button that says "I refuse to participate in moaning about the economy."] Because part of it is psychological.
Q. If you're a dealer in this economy, what should you do?
What our [BMW] dealers have done very well with is our certified pre-owned program. Those volumes last year were up about 16 percent on the previous year and we ended up with about 104,000 going through the dealerships. This year we'll probably do about 120,000 of those cars. If you go back five years we would have done 50,000. To a certain extent, the drop in new-car sales has been compensated by a rise in certified pre-owned cars.
Q. You have a diesel BMW on display in the lobby. What are you doing with diesel?
We are slowly but surely introducing it into the U.S. market.
We've started off with two models, the 335 diesel and the X5 diesel. It's a slow process to convince the very cynical American public that diesel is green. I think poor old diesel is a victim of the past, where they tended to be dirty, smelly engines. But that's no longer the case. In terms of CO2 they're much better than the equivalent gas engine. And the performance is remarkable, particularly if you're interested in acceleration. The performance is equivalent to most sports cars. And [they're] delivering much better fuel economy. You only have to fill up every 560 miles or thereabout, so it's great in terms of having to go to the gas station.
Exec Access appears on Wednesdays. E-mail:verdon@northjersey.com
Page 1 2 >>
Jim O'Donnell's first car was a BMW Mini. His current vehicle is a BMW 750. Over the past year, O'Donnell ? president of BMW of North America LLC and chairman and CEO of BMW Holding Corp. ? has driven the BMW and Mini brands to a larger share of the U.S. market. BMW is ahead of longtime luxury front-runner Lexus in sales through the first five months of 2009.
AMY NEWMAN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Buy this photo"Come September, we'll start to see some recovery in the new-car market," says Jim O'Donnell. BMW said it plans to add 18 Mini dealerships in the next 18 months. O'Donnell, 59, heads sales, marketing and distribution activities for the BMW and Mini brands in the United States, Canada and Mexico. BMW of North America operates out of an 80-acre corporate campus in Woodcliff Lake, with 1,000 employees. There are more than 300 BMW dealerships in the U.S., and 83 Mini dealerships. The company this week said it plans to add 17 Mini dealerships over the next 18 months.
O'Donnell, who lives in Upper Saddle River, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and previously headed BMW operations in the United Kingdom, where he doubled sales of BMWs during his tenure. (Interview condensed for space.)
Q. You took a job with Ford at age 30. What was your first job with Ford?
Pricing. I was a pricing analyst for Ford in Europe. After working for about four or five years in the finance area for Ford, I discovered that all my colleagues who worked in sales and marketing had a much better time. They were going on wonderful trips around the world. So I went into the sales and marketing side, using my financial background.
Q. When you were with Ford, were you based in this country?
I spent a lot of time in Dearborn [Mich., Ford headquarters]. In my last job with Ford, I was responsible for the importing of American vehicles into Europe. They were under pressure from the government of America about the balance of payments problem. The White House was trying to encourage the Fords, the GMs, the Chryslers of this world to export more.
Q. That sounds like mission impossible, selling American cars to Europeans.
There is a niche over there who really like American cars, primarily in Scandinavia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and to some extent there was a small market for it in Germany as well. You had a lot of American forces in Germany at that time [the 1980s].
Q. This year BMW has been outselling Lexus?
The premium segment was always Cadillac, Mercedes, and then Lexus took over from Mercedes. For the last 10 years, we've been No. 2 [to Lexus]. For the first five months of this year, we are No. 1 in that segment.
Q. What do you attribute that to?
It's the breadth of our products. There's a car to fit every taste, almost. And last year a lot of companies walked away from the financing of the vehicles, and leasing, but we still offer our customers those options.
Q. In May you described the current economic climate as a "dust bowl" instead of the "spring garden" dealers were waiting for.
It still is a little bit of a dust bowl. I don't see too many green shoots on the horizon. Although I would predict that come September we'll start to see some recovery in the new-car market. I certainly hope so, because it really fell off a cliff last September. Up until that time our biggest concern was the [weak] value of the dollar in Europe relative to the euro.
Q. Did sales fall off the cliff more for the luxury market?
No. There's no evidence of that.
Q. So, typical BMW buyers weren't trading down; they were just delaying purchases?
The luxury market was affected slightly less than the general market, but everyone was affected ? and worried. Every newspaper you picked up, every TV channel you turned on, had bad news. I recommended to our dealers that they don't have CNN on in their dealerships, because it was depressing. It doesn't create a good sales environment.
Q. What should they put on instead?
Oh, put on the Golf Channel or something. Here's something the Mini people did: [Shows a button that says "I refuse to participate in moaning about the economy."] Because part of it is psychological.
Q. If you're a dealer in this economy, what should you do?
What our [BMW] dealers have done very well with is our certified pre-owned program. Those volumes last year were up about 16 percent on the previous year and we ended up with about 104,000 going through the dealerships. This year we'll probably do about 120,000 of those cars. If you go back five years we would have done 50,000. To a certain extent, the drop in new-car sales has been compensated by a rise in certified pre-owned cars.
Q. You have a diesel BMW on display in the lobby. What are you doing with diesel?
We are slowly but surely introducing it into the U.S. market.
We've started off with two models, the 335 diesel and the X5 diesel. It's a slow process to convince the very cynical American public that diesel is green. I think poor old diesel is a victim of the past, where they tended to be dirty, smelly engines. But that's no longer the case. In terms of CO2 they're much better than the equivalent gas engine. And the performance is remarkable, particularly if you're interested in acceleration. The performance is equivalent to most sports cars. And [they're] delivering much better fuel economy. You only have to fill up every 560 miles or thereabout, so it's great in terms of having to go to the gas station.
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